Photos by Deborah Hoag. Please credit the photographer. A weekly demonstration in Palo Alto took on special significance on Friday November 30th. A few days earlier, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol had inflicted violence upon women and children at the Mexico border. Women and men of the San Francisco Peninsula expressed their outrage at the site of their regular peaceful protest.

Families fleeing violence in their home countries faced horror at the U.S./Mexico border last Sunday. The very next day, a Monday, the Raging Grannies were on the street on the SF Peninsula calling for a safe and just passage for what is called "the migrant caravan." The Grannies say it is better referred to as the mass exodus from Central America.

The SF Peninsula/Palo Alto branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) holds a regular peace and justice protest in Palo Alto at a major intersection near the entrance to Stanford University. Demonstration organizer Judy Adams said, "WILPF members and other community activists and concerned residents stand at this corner every Friday from noon to one p.m. to quietly and peacefully demonstrate about the injustices we see every day in our nation. Today we are especially addressing the injustices facing families coming to our borders seeking asylum."

The women activists joined forces to create an event that would express their horror that border patrol would fire tear gas at women and children. Aligning with national organization Families Belong Together, they turned the regular Friday peace action into part of a country-wide protest called "Stop theTears".